


Just a Cut

by PorcelainWings



Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Angst, Car argument, Emotional Hurt, F/M, How Do I Tag, Mentions of injury and stitches, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Reminder of mortality, She's hurt and not just from the cooking accident, The detective is human
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29819523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PorcelainWings/pseuds/PorcelainWings
Summary: Despite the ice currently between them, the heat of Aria's anger finally spills out a little when Adam overreacts to a minor injury. She's not really angry; she's hurt and she's tired. So tired.~*~“Stop fiddling with the dressing.”He doesn’t even take his eyes off the road as he stoically throws the order in her direction, and that almost annoys her more. Aria rolls her eyes, though she obeys regardless.“For the last time, it’s fine, Adam. I’m fine."
Relationships: Female Detective/Adam du Mortain
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11
Collections: "Canon" Pairings





	Just a Cut

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for this piece was: “it’s just a cut, really”, with Aria specifically.  
> Thank you to @Sosolenoo for the request 💕

The SUV is silent.  
Aria’s attention remains fixed out the window, toying with the bandage adorning her hand as she steadfastly ignoring the almost stifling presence of Adam as he drives them both to her apartment. The ice that settles between them is near painful, though she can hardly give Adam all the credit this time - she’s barely gazed at him from the warehouse to the facility to now, except to level a glare or two his way.

“Stop fiddling with the dressing.”

He doesn’t even take his eyes off the road as he stoically throws the order in her direction, and that almost annoys her more.  
Aria rolls her eyes, though she obeys regardless.

“For the last time, it’s _fine_ , Adam. _I’m_ fine. It’s not as if I’ve never had a cooking accident before.”

His dismissive scoff has her clenching her fists in her lap, the slight sting of it bringing her a worrying amount of satisfaction.

“So, you make a habit of lacerating yourself in the pursuit of cuisine, do you?”

The snarky question bites far more than she expected. She’s not even sure why this whole situation bothers her so much… She scoffs silently at her own denial. That’s a lie - she knows exactly why she’s so bothered.  
This selective concern of his is… _exhausting_.  
The worry that would usually make her heart flutter like a butterfly instead weighing the wings down with lead. The man has no regard for the emotional torment he induces with his constant running away, with his inconsistent distance, and yet he holds the nerve to believe this over-protectiveness holds any meaning when it’s purely physical?  
It _infuriates_ her.

“Lacerating?” her dark tone is stained with an affronted disbelief. “It’s just a cut, really. And a _minor_ one at that. It definitely didn’t warrant you dragging me out of the warehouse and carting me off to bother Elidor.”

He grips the wheel tighter at her retort, the leather letting out small noises of protest at the white-knuckled grip. Her blatant disregard for her own safety frustrates him to no end - _can she not see, **for once** , how important ~~she~~ it is for her to stay safe?_

“You need to get better at determining danger. That _‘just a cut’_ required **_stitches,_** Ari- Detective.”

She rolls her eyes, crossing her arms and turning the full force of his glare on his profile. For once, the furrow in his brow doesn’t make her wish to smooth it away.

“It didn’t _require_ stitches at all! He only did them so it would heal _better_. It would have still healed, _Commanding Agent_.”

He barely flinches at the use of his title, his jaw clenching as he holds firm to the growing anger instead of entertaining the blow it dealt to hear the venom in her voice.

“And what if it didn’t? What if it got infected or opened even further? You’re far too flippant about everything, Ariana! You need to be more careful and take your wounds far more seriously.”

His eyes flick to her tense posture, a viper poised to strike…  
A posture usually reserved for the likes of the reporter, not him.

“Oh for- I am not a _child_ , Adam! I took care of myself long before you turned up and I’ll be fine to take care of myself long after you’re gone!”

The silence this time is deafening, both of them shocked at the words left hanging between them. Words which come from a pain whose origin she can’t identify, words he doesn’t want to begin to acknowledge.

“I just…” She can’t take them back, but the desperate urge to explain is too strong to resist. “There’ll probably be a time when you and the team will have to move on eventually, after all you’re immortal and I’m… It’s not as if there’s a reason for you to be around for the rest of my life.”

She refuses to check if he’s willing to meet her eyes, she’s not willing to meet his.  
She’s not sure what she expects him to say; perhaps something about her weird blood and need for protection? But she knows what she _wants_ him to say.  
You’d think she’d have learned by now to not get her hopes up, all it ever does is leave her with nothing but to watch them fall each time… and yet there's still that foolish part of her that longs for some reassurance… longs to hear _just once_ -

“I…” He purposefully cuts off any sentence he could have possibly said, swallowing them down past the lump in his throat he wishes would go away.  
The wall is up, and that’s that. A rueful smile tugs at the corner of her lips - _she was right not to expect any different_.  
Storms gather in both their minds; his attention firmly on the road, hers back upon the window. Aria wraps her arms around herself in a weak attempt to stave off the freezing chill that’s settled itself into them both.  
The SUV is silent once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much if you’ve made it this far!  
> I hope it wasn’t too much of a chore!  
> Thank you, truly, for your time 💕


End file.
